Work

(Re)theorizing economic geographies of digital platforms from an East Asian perspective

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Digital platforms and the related platform economy and platform capitalism increasingly affect the economy at large, and are therefore also key topic in modern economic geography literature. In this commentary, we will argue that theorizing the economic geographies of digital platforms remains relatively underdeveloped. Given East Asia's—particularly China’s—leading role in various sectors of the digital platform economy, such as e-commerce, short video, and livestreaming, the region offers a promising foundation for inductive theorizing. To contribute to this agenda, we outline five emerging directions of East Asian-based (re)theorizing, which offer valuable insights for advancing and diversifying the current, largely Western-centric, platform economy literature.

Source: Information Geography

DOI: 10.1016/j.infgeo.2025.100020

Authors: Robert Hassink, Han Chu

Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Language: English

Topic: Digital Economy and Work Transformation

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,200